Falsktalarm

Falsktalarm (from Swedish falskt alarm, literally "false alarm") refers to an alert, warning or signal indicating a real emergency or threat that, upon investigation, proves to be incorrect or unwarranted. The term is used in everyday language and in technical, medical and emergency-management contexts to describe incidents where systems or people report problems that do not exist.

Causes include technical faults or malfunctions in sensors and detectors, human error or misinterpretation, environmental factors such as animals or weather, and deliberate hoaxes or malicious triggers. Types of false alarms range from home and commercial security and fire alarms to medical alarms (e.g., monitoring devices) and automated alerts in industrial or IT systems.

Consequences of falsktalarm incidents can be operational and social: unnecessary deployment of emergency services, financial costs, interruption of normal activities, and erosion of public trust. Repeated false alarms may lead to alarm fatigue, where responders or the public become desensitized and less likely to act on genuine warnings.

Mitigation strategies include improved sensor design and placement, multi-sensor verification, adaptive algorithms to reduce spurious triggers, clearer user training and procedures, and legal measures such as fines for malicious or negligent false reporting. In emergency management, protocols that balance rapid response with quick verification help reduce both the harms of false alarms and the risks of failing to respond to real incidents. Related concepts include false positives, hoaxes and alarm fatigue.